barge
pronunciation
How to pronounce barge in British English:
UK [bɑːdʒ]
How to pronounce barge in American English:
US [bɑːrdʒ]
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- Noun:
- a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads (especially on canals)
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- Verb:
- push one's way
- transport by barge on a body of water
Word Origin
- barge
- barge: [13] Barge comes in the first instance from Old French barge, but speculation has pushed it further back to medieval Latin *barica, which would have derived from báris, a Greek word for an Egyptian boat. This hypothetical *barica would have been a by-form of late Latin barca, which came into English via Old French as barque, also spelled bark, ‘sailing vessel’ [15] (source of embark). The metaphorical use of the verb barge, ‘move clumsily or rudely’, is barely a hundred years old; it comes from the ponderous progress made by barges.=> bark, barque, embark
- barge (n.)
- c. 1300, "small seagoing vessel with sails," from Old French barge, Old Provençal barca, from Medieval Latin barga, perhaps from Celtic, or perhaps from Latin *barica, from Greek baris "Egyptian boat," from Coptic bari "small boat." Meaning "flat-bottomed freight boat" dates from late 15c.
- barge (v.)
- "to journey by barge," 1590s, from barge (n.). The form barge into and the sense "crash heavily into," in reference to the rough handling of barges, dates from 1830s, American English. Related: Barged; barging.
Example
- 1. The barge used one-tenth as much water as a comparable field farm .
- 2. A wooden barge casted ashore in january 9 ( dvortsovaya embankment ) .
- 3. The barge chugs around an island , the morning sun now coruscating brilliantly off the water 's surface .
- 4. He was found by an armenian dockworker in the hold of a barge .
- 5. Ford cars come by barge nearly 2500km from a factory in chongqing to be exported by sea from shanghai .